Palworld Developer Outlines the State of the Nintendo Patent Infringement in Latest Statement

mmorpg.com:

Pockepair, the development team behind the popular creature collector Palworld, recently addressed the ongoing patent infringement lawsuit filed by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo Co., Ltd. The lawsuit, initially announced on September 19, 2024, alleges that Palworld, infringes upon three patents held by Nintendo. These patents were registered between May and August of 2024, and it appears Nintendo is seeking an injunction to halt the game’s availability as well as monetary compensation.

Ultimately, the article from Pocketpair outlines the case from their perspective, but gives no news on the explanation of their defense moving forward. The target patents, identified as Patent Nos. 7545191, 7493117, and 7528390, in the article posted on Pocketpair’s site, reportedly cover specific features in Palworld that allegedly mirror elements patented by Nintendo. The Plaintiffs are demanding a total payment of 10 million yen (or about 65kUSD) which is comprised of 5 million each to The Pokémon Company and Nintendo Co., Ltd., along with additional late payment damages. The amount is nearly a drop in the bucket compared to what the team was spending to keep their servers running upon their Early Access launch in January. Despite these claims, Pocketpair has stated their intent to continue asserting their defense over the course of the legal proceedings.

Generally, it seems Pocketpair is refraining from diving into any further comments related to the ongoing litigation. The statement made by the company leaves out a lot of information as to the state of the suit but appears to be meant to limit individual media inquiries. They emphasized that any additional relevant updates would be provided through their official channels. Despite the lawsuit, Palworld has still managed to launch on PS5, solidify a mobile port, andimplement fixes as Pocketpair continues to flesh out their «Pokémon with Guns» premise.